The Seattle Mariners have their first spring training game on Thursday against the Oakland A's. I am sure the players are ready to go after throwing in the bullpen or hitting in the cage. Nothing like real baseball.
On Tuesday the announcement Marco Gonzales would start the game and throw two innings followed by newcomer Justus Sheffield. Have no idea who Sheffield is he is one of the pitchers the Mariners received from the New York Yankees in the trade for James Paxton. He is ranked now as the Mariners number one prospect. We will see whether he starts the season in Tacoma or as the fifth starter in Seattle. Whatever happens, he will pitch in Seattle at some point during the season.
Not sure what relievers will follow Gonzales and Sheffield however they will likely be going with four of them. The bullpen has a number of candidates to make the opening day roster. They will probably begin with eight relievers beginning of the season and then go down to seven depending on how the team is doing and how much they are pitching.
The opening game of spring training hasn't been announced yet who the positions players will be starting however it will probably be the starters. The three positions that may have a question who starts is first base will it be Ryon Healy or Jay Bruce or for that matter Daniel Vogelbach. Also will they start Tim Beckham or JP Crawford at shortstop?
The third position is centerfield where Mallex Smith is expected to be the starter on the season he has an injured shoulder so he won't be playing. In fact, there is a question of whether he will be ready to go when they go to Japan in a month. Yes, the season begins exactly a month from today February 20. He may not be available until they get to Seattle to face the Red Sox on March 28.
It could be former Washington Husky Braden Bishop who is third on the depth chart. By the way, Mitch Haniger is second on the depth chart but he is likely will be in right field. The Mariners could start Kyle Lewis or one of the other prospects in center. Whoever starts in center I am sure we will see both of them in the first game.
One of the first storylines coming out in spring training is about Kyle Seager and his off-season training and diet. Instead of building muscles he worked on flexibility. He does look trimmer as well. I know some gave the excuse he had a poor season last year because he had a broken toe last June. It may have been part of the problem but he sucked before then. The broken toe may have not allowed him to get better in the second half of the season but he was having a bad season before then. Bygones be bygones this is a new season so we will forget Kyle's season of last year especially if he plays well this year. I hope he gets off to a good start instead of waiting until June to perform. Anyway, I am rooting for him to bounce back.
I am hoping for a good season out of these players this year despite the fact many believe they will have a losing record. Going into a season you never really know how a team will do even though things look like they will have a poor record. All I hope for is more of an exciting team than the one we saw after the all-star break. Whatever the record turns out I am looking for a team like the one in the first half of the season. Without Edwin Diaz they could lose some of the one-run games they won last year but every year never really know how the bullpen will do. They are unpredictable to say the least. Anyway let's go M's.
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